Why we need to Practice the Precautionary Principle at Home and School

Why we need to Practice the Precautionary Principle at Home and School –
Writes Dr. Jerome Paulson, part of the AAP’s Council on Environmental Health.”Children are not little adults,” Paulson, of Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., told Reuters Health. “Their bodies are different and their behaviors are different. That means that their exposures to chemicals in the environment are different, and the way their bodies (break down) those chemicals are different.” Kids may be especially vulnerable to chemicals during important periods in development, when their brains and bodies are changing quickly,” Dr. Paulson added.

In a policy paper from the American Academy of Pediatrics it is explained that there are risks of different pesticides to children, and the AAP argues that the government should intervene to keep dangerous chemicals off the market.
Writes Dr. Jerome Paulson, part of the AAP’s Council on Environmental Health.”Children are not little adults,” Paulson, of Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., told Reuters Health. “Their bodies are different and their behaviors are different. That means that their exposures to chemicals in the environment are different, and the way their bodies (break down) those chemicals are different.” Kids may be especially vulnerable to chemicals during important periods in development, when their brains and bodies are changing quickly,” Dr. Paulson added.

Last spring, the at the National Cancer Institute President’s Cancer Panel, a group of expert physicians, public health and policy experts, released a report entitled Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk which stridently warned that the scientific and regulatory communities in this country were underestimating the number of environmentally-induced cancers caused by industrial and commercial chemicals. Of the 80,000 chemicals now in industrial use in the US only about 200 have been studied for carcinogenicity. Few studies relate in any way to humans, and none to fetuses, infants, and children, the highest risk populations. Because few have been peer reviewed and many have been performed under conditions where potential conflicts of interest exist, there is much controversy over the accuracy and relevance of the data.

We should be concerned that environmental toxins may be causing the increased incidence of asthma, autism, ADHD, and other diseases that seem to be rising more rapidly than we can be explain on the basis of infectious diseases, behavioral changes, or parenting patterns.

At home read the MSDS Sheets before any chemical is permitted to be sprayed inside or outside your home. Practice the Precautionary Principle and protect all our children and grandchildren